I did complete the cleaning of the basement and if there was just a little less furniture in there it would be even easier to do that area. Perhaps next summer we will eliminate more furniture; time will tell. We mostly use it as a place to use the treadmill, weights and KeepFit exercises.
The main floor and top floor are for today and gradually there is less furniture in these areas as well. Although next summer will again see more pieces being given to Salvation Army if they want them or elsewhere. There is only one large piece that I want to donate and perhaps will check at Church to see if there is a need anywhere.
The Siderfin book continues and I am working on the fourth generation. I believe I have now worked out the Protestation Returns of 1641 and the Subsidies of 1641 and 1642 to help me with assigning properties to the correct lines. I know where the property ends up in the next generation thus making it somewhat easier to look at although the wills are mostly small transcripts as the originals were destroyed in the bombing of the Devon Record Office at Exeter in World War II. But one must make do with what one has. Other subsidies would also help but only so many are available to me directly. I can see that one of these days I must get into the Family History Library to do that search. The Siderfin family continues to be concentrated in the Carhampton Hundred for the most part in this generation although the occasional movement into Williton and Freemanours Hundred. Although I can not be positive at this stage I am suspicious that this is a singleton family name not arising anywhere else in this time period in the British Isles. James Sanders says that he thinks this is a Dutch or Italian family which fits in with my thought and the thought that they could have been an Italian Jewish family brought to England during the reign of William the Conqueror. In the History of the Jews in England (1066-1290) William of Malmesbury (English historian of the 12th century born in Wiltshire (Norman father and English mother)) which is very interestingly the county to the east of Somerset. William of Malmesbury apparently stated that William I brought Jews from Rouen to England at the time of the Norman Conquest. James Sanders did find early records for Siderfin namely Robto-de-Sidernefenne on the Hundred Rolls of Somerset in 1274 (during the time of Edward I). This information is at the top of his Pedigree Chart. If indeed they were Jewish they were no longer active in Judaism by the time of John Siderfin of Luxborough around 1500 as his family and the subsequent descendants were all baptized, married and buried in the Church of England. It would be interesting to discover why James Sanders had the idea that the family was from The Netherlands or Italy. Perhaps his research fonds at Barnstaple would provide some knowledge in that regard. It is unlikely that I will ever view this material but it is a project for a future Siderfin researcher.
I continue today looking at the Fourth Generation making sure that all of the information that I have acquired goes into this section before moving on to the Fifth Generation. I do want to have a look at the Timberscombe Parish Registers if they exist prior to Martin Southwood's excellent transcription of the later period at Timberscombe. I still need to continue with the Luxborough Parish Registers in the 1600s.
My DNA matches with descendants of the Siderfin family are interesting in that I along with four of my siblings have all tested at various companies as a set so that there is always more than two at any one company giving a very good sized group of Siderfin matches. I myself am a good match but others of my siblings are weaker matches. But my 2x great grandmother Elizabeth (Rew) Pincombe had a twin sister Charlotte and that has resulted in quite strong matches being more than one would expect at the third cousin level.
On to the day, breakfast next.
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